


When the World Ends

by phoenyx (nyctophiljc)



Series: memento mori [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00 line as four horsemen fic that no one asked for, Minor Character Death, contains some violence, jaesung if u squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 06:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16362302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyctophiljc/pseuds/phoenyx
Summary: Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck, and Jaemin had been asleep for thousands of years. But the end is fast approaching.And when the end is nigh, all of them have to rise.





	When the World Ends

**Author's Note:**

> beware of my writing. it’s kinda meh. it has been awhile since i wrote something so this is like a practice

**PART** **ONE** **:** **STRIFE**

 

Chaos was a strange thing. Humans considered different measures just to avoid it. Despite that, countless of wars had already happened across the world. From the ancient civilizations to the modern ones, war was something that was inevitable. World peace was never truly reached.

So when the world went shit, Jaemin was the first one to wake up.

It was a blistering summer noon when he gasped for air inside a red 1969 Mustang. The smell inside was so suffocating that he immediately opened the car and gagged on the pavement while he was on his knees. Jaemin had always hated being on Earth, had always hated taking a form of a human when he could be something more.

When Jaemin finished heaving, he stood up and found that he was in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. The harsh wind hit him in the face, bringing dust with it. Behind him was a wore down motel with its neon lights flickering in the daylight. Jaemin could see a man looking at him from one of the rooms on the second floor. And Jaemin didn’t like being stared at, especially by a human being. So he grabbed a stone nearby and threw it at the window. He turned around and walked to his car before he could hear the glass shattering.

Driving into the city was easy enough. He knew where he was going as the high glass buildings became his landmarks. Though Jaemin didn’t expect the traffic that made him stuck on the road for three hours. He rolled down his windows but decided that the smell inside his car was better than the noise outside. He wished he could shut off everyone, it would make his life easier. But even with his power, he couldn’t always get what he wanted. He turned the radio on instead, and a song by an 80’s band started to blast through the speakers.

As he was waiting for the stoplight to turn green, he noticed that the girl from the next car kept glancing at him. The guy on the motorcycle beside him also kept looking at him as if he was strange to look at. With his young face and bright non-tinted car, Jaemin must had look really odd among the black, white, and gray colors of the city. Sometimes, he hated how he caught attention so fast among the others. He was too bright, too vibrant; the perfect color for him. Normally, he would enjoy how everyone was looking at him, but maybe not today. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Jaemin released everything that he kept for the past millennia.

Jaemin’s eyes glowed bright red as his wrath enveloped the vicinity. Red started to creep up from the roots of his hair. Finally, when all was under his grasp, he stopped and released the steering wheel with a long gasp.

It wasn’t Jaemin’s full potential yet everything was in total chaos. It was the bloody nightmare in humans’ dreams. The very thing that they avoided and embraced at the same time. Fists turned blue and bloody, painting the pavement a dark color of red. Some had guns and knives in their pockets though not everyone could use them. Nonetheless, no one was actually safe as these people would not stop until they released the anger they had been hiding inside them for years.

Jaemin immediately regretted doing it as he was now more stuck on the road than before. The cars in front of him were already empty and broken, their owners breaking in to other cars. He groaned and punched his window with all his might, the glass shattering into tiny little pieces. Left with no other choices, he left his car and walked toward his destination.

He had been only on Earth for less than twelve hours but Jaemin was determined to finish this already. The others had always told him to learn to wait and that he was too impatient for his own good. If only the others were here with him right now, all would be well but he was the last and first. The last to be created and the first to be awakened.

Unlike on the road, no one bothered him when we has walking. That was because people perceived him as an average human being when he wasn’t with his red car that caught too much attention. No one was staring at him anymore like he was some kind of evil sent to Earth, which was funny because that’s what he really was. But after some time, he realized that being alone in this world could be very boring.

Jaemin stopped by a diner just on outskirt of the city. It wasn’t the most elegant place but it wasn’t that bad either. He sat on the nearest stool at the counter and a guy with bright blue hair approached him, asking for his order, his voice too soft and too shy. After looking at the menu, Jaemin decided that cheeseburger with a side of curly fries and Coke would be the perfect meal on his first day. And as he was saying his order, the blue-haired waiter produced the softest yelp.

“Your eyes,” the waiter mumbled. “They’re so red.”

Jaemin froze. He looked more closely at the waiter but aside from his strange hair, the waiter seemed to be the epitome of an average human being. “Who are you?”

The blue-haired waiter pointed at the dirty white name tag pinned on his uniform. “I’m Jisung.”

“What are you?”

The waiter gave him a confused look. “I’m a waiter.”

Jaemin shook his head and sent the waiter off. He didn’t have time for the waiter’s dumb acts and games. So he just ate his order in silence when his order came, trying to enjoy the cheap junk which tasted stale on his tongue. When he finished, he realized that he had no money with him which wouldn’t have been a problem if not for the blue-haired waiter, Jisung, who kept looking at him.

As he was thinking on what to do about Jisung, the latter approached him slowly. “It’s on the house, sir,” the waiter said.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“It’s on the house,” Jisung repeated.

Jaemin nodded, accepting the offer without asking why. He didn’t really care (but he got to admit, the guy made him curious as hell). “Thank you.” The words felt strange on his tongue but somehow, it made him feel better. On his way out, he pickpocketed a customer and left a tip on the counter.

Outside, the sun was setting, streaking the sky with the colors of pink, orange, and yellow. The trees on the median strip were calmly dancing with the wind. For a moment, Jaemin thought he woke too soon. Maybe the world wasn’t ready for him yet. Although for them, there were no such thing as accidents. Everything had been prophesied since the beginning of time.

He sighed and decided that his red Mustang was too precious to be left behind.

For a year, Jaemin lived alone, moving from place to place. There were times he would create chaos just to decrease his growing boredom. Students would get suspended because they had a fist fight, drivers would argue in the middle of the road about their crashed vehicles, neighbors would also try to bring each other down. Pure hatred was everywhere and it only did nothing but to increase the power within Jaemin.

One time, Jaemin was driving his Mustang when he spotted a group of college kids walking their way to the university. He focused on the one with red hair sulking behind the group. He looked like the type of friend who wasn’t always noticed. Within seconds, the redhead threw a punch at the guy next to him. And that was how the whole group learned that half of them hated each other’s guts in reality. Jaemin only watched, amused, as the whole thing unfold before his eyes before moving on to the next city.

Aside from his usual job, sometimes Jaemin would apply for an actual job and stay at the said job for only about two weeks—his longest record was a month and unexpectedly, it was at a record store. The only thing he could come up why he stayed at the record store for so long was because no one really went to record stores anymore. Everything was digital. There weren’t a lot of people to mess up with. (And maybe deep inside, he asked for that little bit of peace). After that, he also tried to work at a candy store, a movie theater, a thrift shop, and a diner—the last one reminding him of a certain blue-haired boy.

Jaemin was working at a coffee shop in a random town he was staying in when something changed. The TV near the counter was on, showing news about a pandemonium in the next city when he felt his heart starting to beat for the second time. Bussing tables wasn’t Jaemin’s favorite thing to do but the task was always given to him somehow. As the coffee shop was near to closing, he started to clean the tables and he noticed that one particular table at the corner wasn’t empty yet. So he took a closer look.

“Hello, Jaemin,” said the guy at the table, smiling his deceitful angelic smile.

Jaemin smiled back and threw the rag he was holding at another table. He sat across the guy, red starting to creep up his hair once again. Jaemin let out an euphoric sigh. “It’s nice to finally see you, Hyuck.”

 

—•—•—

 

 **PART** **TWO:** **DEARTH**

 

When the world went into chaos, different cities and towns fell under various unfortunate occurrences such as shortage in food and scarcity in other resources. It was the time when Donghyuck woke up.

Donghyuck was inside a beat up black 1980 Mulsanne in the middle of a dying forest when life was breathed into him. He immediately felt the strangeness of being a human, like he was weak but also powerful.

 _So_ _this_ _is_ _what_ _it_ _feels_ _like_ , he thought.

It took him a bit of a long time to get out of the car. The doors weren’t really cooperating with him, they were already crawling with rust. It was such a shame that the car was like that, it really looked nice and he bet he would looked good if he used that.

Around him, plants and trees were already wilting as if they haven’t touched by the rain for so long. Donghyuck only sighed at the sight and tried to find his way out of the forest.

When he finally got out of the forest, he found himself in an empty road. With no cars passing by, Donghyuck followed the road to his right until he reached a nondescript town. The establishments and houses were in either beige or white, rendering the town more boring than it actually was.

Though it was impossible for him to get tired, Donghyuck felt that his legs were already going numb. He passed by an okay looking B&B but decided to walk further into the town, wanting to explore the small town a bit more. He had been in Earth before but not in his human form. Before, he thought of towns and cities as nothing but specks of dirt but now that he was actually blending in, maybe these towns and cities weren’t bad after all.

Donghyuck realized he was in the middle of the town when he noticed that a lot of people were milling around the area. Most of them had baskets and paper bags in their hands, but those baskets and bags were empty—ifnot empty they barely had anything in them. A lot of markets were also closing even though it was still ten in the morning. Some people knocked at stores, begging for the owners to open up again and sell products but the vendors had nothing to sell now. Other people just looked at closed stores, exhaustion evident in their dark eyes.

With how people looked and how they acted, Donghyuck concluded that the town must have been experiencing the shortage for quite some time now. That was the thing with Donghyuck. A long time should have passed before he could be felt. Along with him were different kinds of issues and troubles. Donghyuck liked that. At least, he wasn’t alone.

Speaking of being alone, Donghyuck knew he wasn’t the first to be here. He had to find the youngest, though he had no idea where to find him. Earth wasn’t exactly Donghyuck’s favorite place, it was okay but he would’ve preferred if he stayed up above along with the others. He didn’t have any choice, they were created to finish things.

After exploring the town a bit more, Donghyuck went back to the B&B he saw earlier. He realized that it looked uglier up close. It was an old two-story Victorian house which seemed rare in the town. It totally gave the feeling of being unwelcome. Its paint was chipped and fading, the door and windows looked like they were about to fall off from their hinges. Despite the disappointing impression of the house, Donghyuck went inside.

“Hello?” he called out as he entered. The B&B’s interior was better at least. The wooden walls and floors were clean and polished. The furniture still looked sturdy. Though the house really look empty like no one was here, like it had been abandoned some years ago.

The main door opened behind him. A guy in his early 20’s greeted him with the most welcoming smile. “Hi,” the guy said, sweeping his blond hair away from his eyes. “It has been a long time since we last had a costumer that’s why we barely leave anyone in the house. But hey, welcome, bud. I don’t know why you’re here in this town but I hope you’re having fun!”

Contrary to this guy’s dark bags under his brown eyes and overall appearance, he sure had some fun in his tone. He had really sounded like he was having the time of his life. It was as if everything was going fine in their little, miserable town. Donghyuck nodded before looking around the house once more.

The guy clapped his hands and started to bombard him with questions. “So, what will it be? We have a room with a single bed, a room with double bed or if you want, we also have a room with a queen bed. Or is it the food that you came for? We have the best hash in the whole town, thanks to my grandmother’s grandmother’s secret recipe. We also—“

“I’ll take the whole house.”

The guy’s eyes went wide. “E-excuse me?” he stammered.

“I said I’ll take the whole house,” Donghyuck repeated.

That was when Donghyuck’s bright, beautiful eyes went black as midnight. His hair which was naturally black became darker than ever, like ink was sprouting from the roots of his hair. The guy stood frozen, breathing heavily before his brown eyes turned black as well. Then his skin started to sag as if all his muscles and meat were being sucked out. When his eyes came back to normal, he looked very tired and a lot older. The guy nodded and left the house without any word.

Donghyuck smiled and enjoyed the whole house for himself.

But the enjoyment didn’t exactly last long. Staying three days inside the house, he got bored and decided to go outside. It was a cold afternoon of autumn and the trees were already bare, ready for the incoming winter. He inhaled the air with his arms wide open. Not knowing where to go, he decided to let his feet do the work.

Forty minutes later, Donghyuck found himself in an automobile repair shop. For a moment, he thought it was empty. Maybe people didn’t need cars anymore. But then he noticed a moving bright green underneath a black car. Donghyuck cleared his throat and the bright green moved, revealing a tall guy in denim overalls grinning widely at him.

“Oh, hey!” The guy stood up, dusting his grease covered hands on his overalls. His green hair looked brighter up close. “I’m Taeyong, by the way. What can I help you with?”

Donghyuck cocked his head to the side and stared at the car that was getting fixed earlier. “Where did you get that car?” He pointed at it.

Taeyong’s brow furrowed. “Oh, that? I think someone found it in the forest or something. Why, you want it? It’s really wrecked though.”

“Can you fully fix it? Make it look like it’s new?” he asked.

Taeyong shrugged. “Maybe,” he answered. He then grabbed a chair and sat down. “It would be better if you get a new car. It’ll be less expensive. I’m just fixing the exterior of this Mulsanne for display.”

But Donghyuck shook his head. “No, I want this one in particular.”

“Okay,” said Taeyong. “I’ll need newer parts though. And those aren’t really easy to acquire so it has to be you who will get them.”

Donghyuck waved his hand off. “Don’t worry about the parts, I’ll get them.”

Getting new car parts was easy enough. He only had to say the words and people would give them to him. What really took long was fixing the car. Taeyong was the only worker in the repair shop. Despite his cold appearance, Taeyong had never ending tales. Donghyuck learned from his endless babbling that the repair shop was once his father’s but his father died too soon, and now it’s the only way of living Taeyong knew. Sometimes his stories were amusing, but sometimes Donghyuck wished that the guy would shut up.

When the car was finally fixed, Donghyuck gave Taeyong a leather suitcase containing a vast amount of money. Before Taeyong could process what he was given with, Donghyuck drove away with his newly fixed car and swore to never see the green-haired guy again.

Donghyuck drove from town to town, city to city until he found the one that felt right. It was almost midnight when he found the coffee shop. He parked his Mulsanne in front, spotting a familiar figure inside, his red eyes glowing against the dark night. Donghyuck clapped his hands and smirked.

Based on the signage, the coffee shop would close in about ten minutes. Donghyuck went inside and sat down at the table at the corner, waiting for Jaemin to spot him. And when the younger did, they created havoc, leaving the whole coffee shop as splinters on the ground.

Donghyuck learned that Jaemin had been staying at motels for the past year, sometimes he was only sleeping in his car. So he decided to take Jaemin back to the B&B, to his house.

“This is old,” Jaemin said as they went inside the house.

“You have no right to complain when you don’t even have a home.”

Life hadn’t been lonely for the both of them since then. They got to talk about the things that changed in Earth since their last visit billions of years ago. They also got to talk about the new things they experienced and the odd things they encountered. Jaemin also showed Donghyuck the new recipes that he had been working on, though none of them really bothered to eat the food. Meanwhile Donghyuck decided to spend his time on redecorating the house.

Donghyuck was on his way toward the dollar store to buy a new light bulb for the bathroom when he felt strange. He was in the parking lot, getting out of the car when his _heart_ lurched inside his chest. When he turned around, a pair of green eyes met his black ones.

“Hey, Hyuck.”

“Well, well, well, look who it is.”

 

—•—•—

 

 **PART** **THREE:** **MALAISE**

 

As everything in the world went scarce, there was one thing that prospered. Said to be as the small creatures invisible to the naked eye, these small creatures were deadlier than knives and bullets. They could attack hundreds of thousands of people in one sweep and no one would notice.

The moment these invisible creatures’ population went up, Jeno woke up.

The winter wind was stronger than ever, and the cold it brought was seeping through skins and went to the bones. Wisps of steam came out of Jeno’s gasping mouth when he woke up inside a green 1951 DeLuxe. He stayed lying down at the backseat for a moment, letting his being human sink in. It was weird, he didn’t really like it.

Jeno went out of the car and immediately felt the cold even more. Although it really had no effect on him, nothing had. The snow crunched every time he took a step, vapor coming out of his mouth every time he took a breath.

He was in a narrow street, his car occupying most of the width of it. Two buildings loomed beside him, darkening the place. At one side of his car, sat a garbage can with something clattering inside it. With a frown on his face, Jeno opened the can and something fast—but not fast enough—jumped at his face. He caught it in a swift movement, claws barely missing his cheek.

The black cat stared at him, its blue eyes like a swirl of water. Jeno stared back before putting the cat on the hood of his car. “What should I call you, mister?” Jeno asked though he didn’t have any specialty in talking to animals, none of them really had—except the oldest one, he was too powerful like that. Jeno could only feel what animals feel.

The cat licked its paw, ignoring Jeno. It irritated him a little bit, almost considering to leave the cat and let its insides rot. But maybe he’d cut the cat some slack—himself too—he just got here on Earth, he should not waste his time on a pitiful creature.

Jeno put the cat back to the ground and went inside his car. He did not know where to go but he drove off nonetheless.

The city was bare as it could be, which wasn’t at all. The traffic was bad, lots of people were still roaming around the streets, neon signs were blinding and flickering. Every single thing of it was a headache, if Jeno could even feel that.

Before Jeno knew it, he was in front of a park. He watched as several people put blankets on the ground, picnic baskets in their hands. They looked so happy and carefree like they had all the time in the world and they were only going to spend that time on recreational activities. Jeno hummed and leaned against his seat, the gears in his head already turning.

He closed his eyes and raised his hands. Concentration was all he needed and this would be done. But then a strange sound came from somewhere beside him that made him freeze. Jeno looked at the passenger seat and met a familiar pair of blue eyes. His lips pursed at the sight of the black cat.

“Won’t leave me alone, huh?” The cat only purred and blinked at him. “Well, if that’s the case, you can be my assistant or whatever it is that you can do.”

The cat meowed.

Jeno nodded as if he understood what the cat meant. “Well then, I’ll call you Winter.”

The cat only licked it paw again and Jeno sighed. He turned back to the people at the park before closing his eyes once again. And as his eyes opened, glowing green, and a streak of green coloring his dark hair, three taps sounded on his window. Jeno looked outside so fast that the person on the other side jumped away.

Jeno only stared at the human. He was tall, definitely taller than Jeno, and had a lean body. And if the human wouldn’t do something about his body, he would be too skinny for his own good. Dark circles were also visible under the human’s big eyes, making him look older and exhausted. The human pointed down, signaling Jeno to roll down his window.

Jeno didn’t like being told what to do except when it was the oldest, he couldn’t really do something about that. But this was a human, commanding him like he was some sort of a higher being than Jeno. Despite that feeling, Jeno complied and rolled his windows down too slowly.

The human cleared his throat. Jeno noticed the human’s attire and realized that he was a police officer. He didn’t if it was some kind of joke that humans made but this guy in front of him certainly did not qualify to be a policeman. “Sir, you’re not allowed to park in this area.” The human’s voice sounded like it was from his nose and not his mouth. Jeno was too familiar at the sound. One sniff in the air, he knew that the human was starting to rot already although he was too young to experience such thing.

“Really?” Jeno asked. “I wasn’t going to park anyway. I was just looking at the people there.”

The human looked at the park then looked back at Jeno, eyes squinting. “May I see your driver’s—“ The human stepped back and covered his mouth as he went into a fit of cough.

Jeno’s eyebrows raised in amusement. “What’s your name, officer?” he asked.

When the officer stopped coughing, wiping his hand on his pants, he answered, “Officer Kim Doyoung. What’s your name, sir?”

Jeno waved the question off. “That doesn’t matter.”

“‘That doesn’t matter?’ Sir, I don’t think you realize the situation here.”

The thing was, it was Doyoung who didn’t realize the situation. Within the speed of light, Jeno grabbed Doyoung’s arm and pulled him. Doyoung pressed his other hand on the car door, preventing Jeno to pull his head inside. But the former was too weak, he wouldn’t last long and they both knew it.

“What are you doing?” Doyoung grunted. “I could arrest you for this!”

Jeno didn’t speak. There was no point in doing so. Instead, he tightened his grip on Doyoung’s arm and pulled him closer. Jeno’s eyes glowed green and his hair turned to a deep shade of forest while the officer struggled to get out of his grip. Though it didn’t take long for the officer to get tired and stop thrashing around. Soon, he slumped on the ground, trying to breath as normally as he could.

“What did you do to me?” Doyoung gasped.

Jeno didn’t answer his question. Even if he did, Doyoung wouldn’t understand it. In all honesty, Jeno would’ve spared the young officer. Even though Doyoung was annoying, he really made an impression on Jeno. But there was only few that he could do, and giving the opposite of what he was causing wasn’t one of them.

Just to be fair, Jeno affected everyone in the area. The people at the park were reaching for something that wasn’t there, clawing at their throats, sandwiches and baskets long forgotten. It was one thing to cause it, and it was another thing to see it for himself. Despite Jeno’s true nature, he had no intention to actually watch humans suffer from him. He thought it was unnecessary.

He looked at Doyoung one more time before driving away. Beside him, Winter looked at him and meowed. “Is something the matter, Winter?” he asked the cat.

Winter looked away and stayed silent.

“Hm. That’s what I thought.”

Jeno’s reunion with the others wasn’t what he expected. It was anticlimactic as it could get. One day, his car broke down and he had to leave his beautiful DeLuxe in the middle of the highway. Winter still followed him, meowing every second and Jeno had to hold himself back not to leave the cat in front of someone’s door.

For the fast few days, Jeno and Winter went from different towns and cities, stopping only so the cat could eat and sleep. Jeno had no idea where they were now and where they were even going. That was until he saw a signage that they were in a town that no one gave shit about. It had small houses and even a smaller population. He didn’t know why his feet brought him here but when it came to them, coincidence wasn’t a thing. Everything was as it should be.

When the afternoon came, Jeno found himself in a parking lot of an old store. He thought that maybe the universe was playing with him, maybe it wasn’t his time yet. That was until a sleek black car came in the parking lot. It was so quiet and smooth that if Jeno wasn’t Jeno, he wouldn’t know that the car was already there.

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” Donghyuck was staring at him, eyes playful and lips devilish. That was the moment Winter decided to make his presence known. Donghyuck stared at the cat, bemused. “Really? A cat?”

Jeno shrugged. “I was alone,” he reasoned. Winter purred as if he could understand. “Where’s Jaemin?”

“Back at the house. Cooking again, I think,” Donghyuck answered.

“He has a house?”

Donghyuck snorted. “As if he could even afford one. The boy was homeless until I found him. He was even working at some coffee shop,” he said.

Jeno shook his head, chuckling. “Let him live, Hyuck. You know how he is.”

“Well, yeah. He’s getting harder to control these days.” Donghyuck put his hands inside his pockets. “So, what are we gonna do now?”

Jeno looked at the bleak sky. The world seemed to be too peaceful for them but deep inside, they all knew it was rotten. Overhead, the sun was beginning to set. He whistled. “Now, we wait for him.”

 

—•—•—

 

 **PART** **FOUR:** **COUP** **DE** **GRACE**

 

It was still an arcane thing, death that was. No one could explain how it really felt like nor what would happen after that. Once it arrived, you wouldn’t be able to tell the tale.

Renjun was the first and last. The first to be created and the last to come. He was the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end. He was the void of life.

Though unlike the others, Renjun had always been awake but not just quite. A part of him always lingered the Earth snuffing the strings of life of those whose time had come to an end. But when the others left destruction on their wake, Renjun had no choice but to wake up.

He was inside a white 1960 Coupe de Ville when the sun had set. It was too dim to see where he was but there was a faint fragrance of flowers that strangely seemed to relax him. But sooner than he had expected, the smell was replaced by something awful. Renjun smiled. He never liked it but it was a good thing to finally found that familiar stench.

The stars above was what embraced him when he got out of the car. Beneath him, dead leaves and flowers crunched as he stepped on them. He figured that he was in a huge garden of some sort, definitely manmade. Renjun almost felt bad for waking up in here but it was never their choice.

Renjun leaned back against his car. He knew where he was supposed to go and what he was supposed to do. But there was something in his chest—the tiniest little bit of feeling—that made him not want to. The unfortunate thing was, Renjun also liked to keep things in order. So he got inside his car and drove to his first destination. 

The sun had already risen when he parked his car in front of an old diner. It was dark inside and the signage in front told him that it was still closed. Renjun didn’t know what was particularly special about this place but he could feel it. The bizarre feeling when nature was disturbed. And as he got nearer to the diner, the feeling seemed to get stronger.

“We’re still closed, sir.”

It was very peculiar not to feel someone’s presence, not to feel someone’s life. As Renjun turned around, he could feel the that bizarre feeling hitting him harder. This wasn’t normal, this wasn’t supposed to be like this. But as soon as he set his eyes on the person in front of him, he understood.

The person’s bright blue hair was quite extraordinary. It was something you wouldn’t see on a daily basis. Renjun knew exactly who he was, and he couldn’t—didn’t want to—do the thing he came here for.

The guy stepped a little closer. Renjun thought that he was either stupid or brave to do that. “Sir?” he called, looking too concerned or maybe scared. It was probably the latter.

Renjun stepped away. “Ah, my bad. I’ll just come back later then.” He wouldn’t, that’s what he told himself but sometimes, Renjun didn’t trust himself.

The guy nodded, looking relieved that Renjun was going away now. He was about to say something again when his name was called. “Jisung!”

Both Renjun and Jisung looked at the tall guy running towards them, though his eyes only landed on Jisung. “Why haven’t you opened up yet?” asked the newcomer. “And who the hell were you talking to?”

Jisung looked at Renjun so fast, his eyes wide and his lips pale. Renjun took this moment to slip away, words dying in his tongue. He didn’t want to reveal himself right now. Jisung never said anything as the newcomer continued to reprimand him for his unusual behavior that might result to his being jobless. Though the blue-haired waiter stayed where he was, Renjun knew his eyes followed him until his car was a tiny speck along the road.

Renjun found himself clueless about his next destination. The sensation was weaker this time. So he followed his basic senses, letting it decide which turns to take and then everything felt right down to his bones.

He rolled down his windows and let the sweet smell seeped into his car. His senses were more heightened than the average, and unlike the relaxing feeling he had when he woke up, the strong fragrance now was almost intoxicating. Though just like earlier, the fragrance was replaced by the stench he was very familiar with. That was when he knew that he arrived in his next destination.

The white hospital loomed over him, its windows reflecting the bright sunlight. The whole building reeked of that stench and Renjun inhaled. There would be a time when he’d come back here and reap everyone, but now was not the time. He only came here to reap one.

Renjun found Kim Doyoung in the last room on the fifth floor. The said man was in his bed, IV inserted into his veins. He was barely conscious, barely breathing, barely alive. He was holding on.

Renjun sat down on the leather chair next to the bed, his every move were soundless. Though as if Doyoung knew Renjun was coming, the former turned his head toward him, a smile peculiarly played on his lips.

“Is it my time?” Doyoung asked. He looked older than he actually was. His skin was sagging and his hair was almost turning into gray. What remained youthful was his eyes that glimmered under the fluorescent lights.

“Yes,” Renjun answered truthfully. He reached for Doyoung’s hand and the latter gripped his hand tightly.

Not letting Doyoung say anything, any goodbye’s, any repenting, Renjun’s eyes rolled back and he took the life out of Doyoung’s body. He left the hospital without anyone noticing him.

His second to the last destination was no fun at all. Renjun wasn’t the person who could be associated with any words relating to happiness and fun. It wasn’t just in his nature. But sometimes he also had preferences regarding the places he was going to. And this arid town wasn’t definitely the town he would want to stay in.

The odd thing was, the town was by far emitting the strongest pull on him. It was like the town was a huge magnet and he was a tiny screw. As much as he didn’t want to go to the boring town, he couldn’t help but drive there anyway.

Before he knew it, Renjun was in front of a car repair shop. It looked bare that if he ignored his senses, he would’ve thought there were no people in it. Renjun got out of the car and entered the shop, neglecting the waves that hit him.

He was greeted by a guy with green hair. Unlike Jisung, the guy’s green hair was too unusual in this town. He looked out of place, and maybe he really was if fate brought Renjun to him.

“May I help you, sir? I’m Taeyong, by the way.”

Instead of replying, Renjun’s eyes slipped past the boy and landed on the green car being fixed. Taeyong noticed where he was looking at and gave an apologetic smile. He patted the car lightly. “I’m sorry, sir, but this car has an owner,” he said.

Renjun looked back at the guy. “Lee Taeyong, right?” he asked. Taeyong was surprised at the fact that he never mentioned his last name but here a stranger was, knowing it too well. But he nodded in response nonetheless. “How much is the owner going to pay you for that?”

“I don’t know yet. I can’t calculate the total price as I haven’t finished checking the car for other problems but it’ll be probably around $400,” Taeyong answered.

Renjun hummed. He didn’t know why he was still contemplating. He didn’t seem to have any similar problems with Doyoung so he didn’t understand why he was waiting for something he didn’t know.

He approached Taeyong and silently took the guy’s hand in his. The latter was alarmed but for a guy who looked younger and smaller than him, Renjun was very strong. “What are you doing?” Taeyong protested, trying his best to get away from Renjun.

“The right thing,” was the only thing Renjun said before taking Taeyong’s life.

Taeyong slumped against him and he gently settled the guy down on the ground. Renjun remembered retrieving Taeyong’s father just two years ago, and it hadn’t been peaceful like this. The universe worked in strange ways that even he, an entity that might be as old as the universe itself, still had a hard time trying to decipher it.

Then Renjun felt it before he could hear it. It was the feeling of being completed, though he would never truly experience that fully. But still, there was a tiny bit of change in the void filling his whole being.

“Renjun?” Jeno’s voice rang in the shop. Renjun turned around and faced the younger, seeing the confusion written on his face. But once he realized what just had happened, eyes flickering to the ground, Jeno sighed. “I was having my car fixed, Jun. Why did you have to do that?”

“It had to be done,” Renjun said, his voice like a whisper that crawled on people’s skins. “You know the ritual.”

“Now, how am I gonna use my car?” Jeno’s voice was laced with irritation but his eyes told a different story. They were bright and full of happiness.

Renjun ignored his question. “What are you doing in this town?”

“We live here,” Jeno answered nonchalantly. “Can’t you feel us?”

If he was honest—which was most of the time—, Renjun would say no but he held back his answer. “I just woke up,” was his only answer. “Get in my car, we’re going home.”

Home wasn’t really the word to describe the old house they went to. But the aura was all familiar to him. The one he watched grew until it became what it was. The one that he could call home.

Jeno chuckled as they went inside the house. It was originally a B&B but Renjun didn’t ask how they got it. He already knew the answer.

Jaemin was the first one to see him. He came from the kitchen, holding a bowl of salad when he spotted Renjun in the middle of the living room. As he halted, the bowl slipped from his fingers, shattering on the floor. Jaemin seemed to forget the salad and the glass shards that pricked on his skin as he ran towards Renjun.

“Renjun, you’re here!” Jaemin exclaimed, which was very unusual of him. But this was Renjun, and everything associated with Renjun was out of ordinary. Jaemin threw his arms around Renjun and the latter only chuckled.

Then running could be heard upstairs as Jaemin pulled away from Renjun. Donghyuck appeared a second later, hair and clothes disheveled like he just got out of bed. “Renjun!” he beamed. “You’re finally here, we’re finally complete.”

Renjun nodded. “Yes, we are,” he said, and a question lingered in the house. Silence was heard and pressure rose.

Jeno was the one who was able to say it out loud. “So what happens next?”

And it was Renjun who had the answer. Red, black, green, and white. They all shone like how the sun would, searing and blinding.

“Then here comes nothing.”

**Author's Note:**

> sooo if (A BIG IF) i have the motivation, i’ll make a jaesung one and maybe a renjun/??? one. idk who i want with renjun though, i was thinking about either markren or luren but it’ll probably markren IDK HSJSNSK so aaa that’s it.
> 
> hmu on [twt](https://twitter.com/ksywaiker) (@ksywaiker) if u want


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